Toby Jones (II)

BBC Four's Detectorists is written and directed by Mackenzie Crook who also stars in the lead role. Crook's Andy Stone is a likeable protagonist who spends all of his spare time with is metal detecting partner in crime Lance (Toby Jones). Together the pair spend time discussing University Challenge questions, QI Facts and hunting down retro ring pulls that Lance can then put on ebay. Whilst Lance uses his hobby for monetary gain, Andy is instead in it for the glory and is currently training to be an archaeologist. Although Lance is divorced, Andy has a long-term girlfriend in Becky (Rachel Stirling) who is happy for him to pursue his hobby as she sees it as part of his ultimate goal. However Andy and Becky's relationship looks to be tested by university student Sophie (Amy Ffion-Edwards) who takes a shine to him when he wows her with his metal detecting knowledge. Crook's script for Detectorists is packed full of gentle humour and wry observations about the obsession us Brits have for certain hobbies. This theme is particularly exemplified in the scene in which we see a meeting of the metal detecting society who are listening to a dreary talk about buttons from one of their members. I personally enjoyed Detectorists as more of an observational character study than a comedy with the only truly funny moment being a gag revolving around Google Earth. Crook proved himself to be a fine writer and a reliable leading man but it was Toby Jones who gave the best performance as loveable loser Lance. With his performances in both Detectorists and Marvellous; Jones has proven himself to be an actor who can take on a number of diverse roles and I felt that Lance was definitely the more intriguing of the two characters. Detectorists was definitely an amiable programme with plenty of heart but I'm not sure if there was enough on display to keep me coming back every week.

Charming show Detectorists (BBC Four), is a new comedy written by, directed by, and starring Mackenzie Crook. Apart from local eccentric Larry Bishop's land, which has never been gone over with a metal detector before, it's not especially new ground. A pair of oddball middle-aged men, metal detectorists working a ploughed field, find shotgun caps, blakeys, a ringpull ('83, Tizer) and - beep beep beep beep beep - ancient history student Sophie! Circa 1990, I'd guess, certainly much younger than Lance and Andy, whose collected dreams suddenly aren't just about Saxon treasures.

We're talking nerds, and nerdy male friendship, midlife crises, all that. But it's sharp, nicely observed, good to look at, with lovely understated performances from Crook and Toby Jones.

Mackenzie Crook's understated comedy Detectorists sees he and Toby Jones play metal detector enthusiasts whose finds rarely amount to more than a vintage biscuit wrapper ("mint Viscount, '75") or ring-pulls ("'83 Tizer"). As you might expect from an actor who graduated from The Office, there is a hint of Ricky Gervais in the writing, most notably in Jones's delusional loser Lance, but there's no cruelty. Mostly, the humour is located in boredom, though there is a good joke about Fiona Bruce and a brief turn by an agreeably eccentric farmer, who seems to have wandered in from Withnail & I.

There's an oddly inviting melancholy to this new sitcom, written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, and starring him and Toby Jones as two unlikely friends with a mutual love of metal detecting. Despite an almost parodically dull premise - we join the pair on a series of unfruitful detecting jaunts - the careful performances and conscientious restraint of the script mean the world of metal detecting, hardwired with self-delusion and slowly corrosive hope as it is, soon reveals itself to be a poignant microcosm of life itself.

Radio Times review

"Ringpull... '83... Tizer." It's another disappointing discovery for metal detectorists Andy and Lance. And yet this new six-parter proves that a sitcom needn't be about Big Issues to work its magic.

When they're not buzzing around ploughed fields, or listening to lectures on buttons, this Poundland Time Team is optimistically plotting the future unearthing of a Saxon hoard. They're like a more likeable version of The Fast Show's nerdy Offroaders. Andy (Mackenzie Crook, who also writes and directs) is a cleaner in a long-term relationship with tolerant Becky (Rachael Stirling); his friend Lance (Toby Jones) is a forklifter taken advantage of by his ex, Mags (Lucy Benjamin).

Into their provincial world wanders history student Sophie - destined, you feel, to shake things up a bit. She's played by Aimée-Ffion Edwards, unrecognisable from her turn in Sky1's Walking and Talking.

Detectorists is low-key and rambling, but warm, richly observed and gorgeously filmed. Already it feels like a glittering comedy find.

Tony Jones interview

The Detectorists star Toby Jones, 48, talks betrayal, guilt - and what happened when he met Bruce Springsteen.